© Photo Richard Konkolski
© Photo Richard Konkolski
Tropical cyclone Dani, with sustained winds of 80 knots, was moving in SSE direction with speed of 6 knots. Dani should move over New Caledonia and then was predicted that she should pass about 400 miles NE of Auckland within the next five to six days. In the Southern Hemisphere, low-pressure systems spin clockwise and that would create not favorable winds of E- ESE direction with speed of 25-35 knots. That was something that the remaining fleet really did not need to help them finish on time.
Saito's Shuten-dohji II © Photo Billy Black
At present time Saito was 646 miles from the finish, closely followed by Petersen, who again fell behind the Japanese sailor. Considering the distance to the finish, Saito regained lead of 1 mile, but with the rising wind and with his bigger boat he should be able to finish before the rival Petersen.
Neil Petersen © Photo Marek Slodownik
Neal Petersen was definitively not happy with his dropping behind Saito again. He reported: "I have no more hair left on my head. I have pulled it all out in immense frustration. During the last 12 hours I have drifted 14 miles. I had a faster crossing through the Doldrums than I have had in this sea, or rather parking lot. I still had Minoru in sight at sunset, but he was ahead of me. I have tried to tack north, only to get pushed NW. I am back on a tack to the southeast. I want to go northeast, and I can't get there. I have tacked back to the N-NW. There is no point in following Minoru. Nor is there any point following the high east."
Robin Davie had the same light wind condition, being 1979 miles from finish. He wrote: "Our speed remains well down, a reflection on the lightening of the wind, and the necessity to keep the speed controllable in the squalls, which means going slow in the lighter winds in between."
© Photo Richard Konkolski
Place |
Skipper |
Boat |
Latitude |
Longitude |
Dist. to go |
Speed |
Dist. to first |
Time |
1 |
Soldini |
Fila |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
Thierceli |
Somewhere |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Autissier |
PRB |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
Hall |
Gartmore |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
Konioukhov |
Mod.Univ.Human. |
42 59S |
151 01E |
1306 |
7.4 |
1306.3 |
1901 |
6 |
Golding |
Team Group 4 |
Retired |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Place |
Skipper |
Boat |
Latitude |
Longitude |
Dist. to go |
Speed |
Dist. to first |
Time |
1 |
Mouligne |
Cray Valley |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
Garside |
Magellan Alpha |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
Van Liew |
Balance Bar |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
Yazykov |
Wind of Change |
Auckland |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
Saito |
Shuten-dohji II |
39 27S |
165 06E |
646 |
4.7 |
646 |
2144 |
6 |
Petersen |
No Barriers |
39 11S |
164 49E |
647 |
3.8 |
647.4 |
2144 |
7 |
Hunter |
Paladin II |
42 03S |
157 16E |
1031 |
6.6 |
1030.5 |
2144 |
8 |
Davie |
South Carolina |
47 58S |
136 26E |
1979 |
6 |
1978.9 |
2144 |
9 |
Stricker |
Rapscallion III |
Retired |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Copyright © Richard Konkolski
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